Immortality V: Mask of Death
by Ianpiersonjdavis
Summary: Marcus is depressed, but James seems to have a plan to prepare him for a mercenary career, he seems to know something no one else does, what secrets is he hiding from the rest of the McCloud Family? R
1. Suicidal McCloud

Marcus was in a wooden shack were all of the tools and garden supplies had been kept, he held a lighter in his right hand and had a discarded gasoline tank on the ground with gas poured all around he was reflecting on everything that had happened in the past eight years.

He remembered how people judged him before even getting to know the real Marcus, how the universe was so full of prejudice that based on just one image on a monitor he would always be shunned by the way people thought that he had looked.

He knew it was ridiculous to commit suicide over one stupid thing like that, but he also feared for his parents what if people's opinions of them affected their love life? Would it split them up? Marcus loved his parents all he wanted was for them to be happy he didn't like to see them suffer…

Marcus sighed and looked at himself in the mirror resting against the wooden wall of the shack, he saw himself sad, frustrated, and depressed, there were bags under his eyes, since he hadn't slept for days, on top of all of the stress he was having he had also gained a terrible case of insomnia .

He flicked open the lighter and set the flame, dropping it to the ground igniting the spilled gasoline, the fire spread quickly, he punched the mirror that shown his reflection, shattering it, shards of glass stuck into his arm, cutting into the veins as the searing flames spread even quicker, smoke surrounded him making it difficult to breathe, the flames sealed his cuts but increased his pain to unimaginable levels.

Marcus became dizzy as even more smoke was being generated by the flames and the burning wood, his head was pounding and his chest began to ache, his left foot and shin were aflame as well as his right arm, soon it became too much and he passed out landing on the shards of glass as the flames spread even further.

He smiled in his slumber and he felt the fire of hell's painful embrace, soon he would be home…Cerinian ministers called him an abomination of god-maybe they were right? He was alone-isolated, no one understood how he felt, no one cared, it seemed that all living beings in existence with the exception of his family and Ian wanted him dead, to rot, they treated him like dirt, like they hated him for just being alive…

The flames and glass hurt, and the smoke constricted his lungs, but he embraced the pain took pleasure in it, his parents would miss him, but they would get over it… he thought (besides, who in their right mind would actually want a freak for a child?) with these thoughts he let himself sink into a dark, peaceful slumber…

Marcus awoke in a hospital on a bed, in a white room when he first awoke he thought that he was in heaven sleeping on a cloud which shocked him, not only because he was told that he would burn in hell if he had ever committed suicide, but also since he was never sure what to believe until he heard the beeping sound of the heart rate monitor through the curtains sunlight shone through he saw a cast around his arm and leg while it was hanging in the air.

Marcus saw his mother with a chair pulled up having her head down, resting on her arms, and saw his father behind her sitting in the chair asleep, with his fur all scraggly probably from worry, Marcus realized how much his parents truly loved him and become immediately enraged at himself for putting his parents through the hell of worrying whether their son would live or not.

He ran his finger with his healthy arm through the cerulean locks of his mother's hair he was amazed how healthy he felt physically, despite his injuries, but mentally, he wondered if he was crazy-was he? Before he could finish gathering his thoughts Krystal awoke and embraced him in a seemingly bone crushing hug.

She pulled away and asked Marcus "How could you do that to yourself? Do you have any idea how worried we were when we found out what had happened to you?"

Marcus not having the strength to speak just looked down at the floor glumly, he felt terrible, he spoke up weakly "I'm sorry mom, I was depressed and I-I am an idiot…" his voice trailed off and he saw that his father was awake and he asked "Who saved me anyway?"

"Grandpa McCloud," Fox explained watching his son like a hawk, "Is he here?" Marcus asked.

"He went downstairs to go get some coffee…" Fox explained to his son, "Can you go get him?" Marcus asked his father "I kind of need to talk to him in private…" he explained, Fox nodded understanding, and took Krystal with him to find his father.


	2. Moonlit Misery

Marcus lay awake in the hospital bed the moonlight shone into the dark room of the hospital which seemed creepier at night he wondered what was taking so long.

By the time James entered the room he noticed Marcus was just drifting off to sleep before he reached over a shook his grandson slightly, before his eyes slowly opened and said "Hey granddad, what took you so long?" his voice was hoarse.

James decided to give him the coffee he had gotten himself and pulled up a chair next to Marcus's hospital bed before sitting down and told Marcus that the doctors said he could get out in a day or two.

"The doctors were shocked at how fast you recovered from such serious injuries," explained James "They have never even heard of anyone, including you're parents recover that quickly from a life threatening injury!"

Marcus was silent, thinking for a while, he knew that he and Ian's parents as well as his grandparents had the power of immortality and tried hiding it from them, but not James he told Marcus the truth about himself, and told Marcus that they didn't think neither he, nor Ian as far as they knew had an immunity to death.

James and Marcus had a special grandfather-grandson relationship, and he saw James as a second father, he loved his grandma McCloud, and his other grandparents Grandpa Alex which was short for his real name Alexander and his grandmother, Grandma Erica who looked like Krystal but with much longer hair.

Marcus sighed ad asked his grandfather "Granddad, what do you know about Panther Caruso?"

Before James could answer a doctor in a stereotypical white lap coat, who was a human that had a scar under one eye, but other than that looked like a friendly old man who wouldn't harm a fly, had white hair, a stethoscope around his neck, and was carrying a clipboard asked "So, how's is my patient doing?"

"Good," replied Marcus smiling "Except for everything I put my family do, now that I think about it that was a pretty stupid thing to do…" he sighed staring at the ground glumly expecting him to glare and give him a big lecture.

But instead he just smiled and let out a soft, friendly laugh, "Don't feel too bad sonny, teenagers do crazy things, why I remember when I was back living on Earth, I was fifteen years old and I accidentally burned down an entire cornfield!" he burst out laughing for a while before running out of steam.

He took a breath and wiped some sweat off of his brow "Now, Mr. McCloud we have a blood sample with some of you're skin cells, we want to examine it right away, we believe that it may have the secret to curing cancer, AIDS, and even Parkinson's disease!"

"So why didn't you start experimenting, already?" asked James crossing his arms in front of his chest and leaning back in the chair the same way as Fox.

"Well, for legal reasons we need the patients consent for even one single cell…" he looked over at Marcus hopefully who said "Sure, I'll sign!"

The doctor handed him the clipboard and a pen where Marcus signed his name 'Marcus James McCloud' in cursive to make sure he wasn't accused of identity theft or anything else that happens to people with terrible luck.

Marcus muttered "Thanks, I guess…"

The old doctor smiled back at Marcus and replied "No, thank you! Mr. McCloud, you are going to save many lives!"

After he left James smiled at his grandson and asked "Practicing for when people start asking for you're autograph?"

Marcus shrugged "Nah, not really, I was never really into the whole flying thing, sounds kind of boring to me…"

And he drifted off to sleep forgetting about his question about Panther.

When Marcus finally got out of the hospital he was extremely happy not only because he knew know that he was a true hero, but also to be alive and away from the hospital food which tasted so bad.

Marcus and James walked along the sidewalk together marveling a how well the Cerinians adapted and rebuilt, with all of the high-tech equipment around while being environment friendly, Marcus always stared in wonder at the marble statues of past Cerinian heroes including his mother and father, even though Fox wasn't of the Cerinian race he was considered a 'Cerinian Hero' for saving Krystal's life when she was thought to be the sole survivor of the planet's demise, and Tricky for helping.

He remembered his question about Panther for a brief moment before Ian jumped in front of him and said "Marcus guess what, I found out you can look at free porn on the internet and the library can't do anything about it!"

Marcus really didn't at that moment in time, there were too many questions burning in his mind that he wanted to ask his grandfather, "Ian, I'll catch up with you later okay?"

Ian ran off at full speed heading off towards the library.

Marcus finally asked his grandfather "Granddad, what do you know about Panther Caruso?"

James stopped in his tracks, "Panther Caruso…he had a serious crush on you're mother and still does to this day in my opinion I think that kid needs some serious psychiatric care!"


	3. Kidnapped!

When James and Marcus got to the house, there were police cars outside in a panic Marcus and James rushed into the house at full speed to see Fox talking to one of the officers who was scribbling frantically on a blue and yellow notepad.

Everyone turned to see James and Marcus standing in the doorway who looked around "Where's mom?"

Fox sighed and rubbed his eyes with his hands in stress while the cop pocketed the notepad and put a comforting hand on Marcus' shoulder "Son, you're mother is missing, there have been signs of a struggle so she was most likely kidnapped…"

He walked over to Fox and asked "Mr. McCloud, can I talk to you in private for a minute or two?" he asked.

He looked at Fox and explained "I won't tell this to you're son, but teenagers pull shit like this every year…it is Devil's night after all, and they pull all kinds of pranks…or it could be a rapist."

Fox was standing there in stunned silence he could hardly believe what was going on.

The cop looked down glumly, it was always hard having to deliver the bad news and said "Listen, I swear that I will not rest until you're wife is and the sick son of a bitch who did this is behind bars…Can you think of anyone who would do this to you're wife?"

Fox's eyes widened in horror and realization "Panther!" the cop ran off toward his car and Fox turned to see Marcus was gone "Marcus?" he turned to James "Dad, do you know where Marcus went?"

In the cop car the officer was on the radio "This is officer Matthews, I'm on my way to the Caruso household,"

When the car stopped on the side of the street, officer Matthews got out and knocked on the door, in the back seat of the car Marcus sat up and he saw officer Matthews talking to Panther who let him in the house.

Marcus got out of the car and closed the door as quietly as possible so as not to draw attention to himself, he snuck around the outside of the house and peered in the window to see Panther watch officer Matthews as he examined the household and saw him slam the officers head against the wall knocking him unconscious.

After seeing Panther get a roll of duct tape from the counter and begin to tie-up and gag the knocked out police officer while Marcus ran over to the fence the led into Panthers back yard, he climbed over and ran to the tool shed at full speed and grabbed a pair of hedge clippers before heading towards the back door and breaking the glass open, he cleared it all away before sticking him arm through and unlocking the door.

When Marcus walked into his house and heard muffled screams that sounded female "Mom!?" he called out "Mom, where are you?"

Panther was dragging the unconscious officer Matthews into the cellar before he heard Krystal's muffled screams and Marcus calling for his mother, he took out a hunting knife and held it to Krystal's throat menacingly "You'd better shut the fuck up right now bitch! Or the next time you'll see you're son will be on display on the meat isle of the Corneria Super Mart!"

Krystal stopped her muffled screams after that but tears were streaming from her eyes down the sides of her face, she didn't want to get raped but she didn't want her son to be killed either, Panther took one last look at his hostages before climbing up the stairs and saw Marcus wandering around in the kitchen.

Panther grabbed a skinny lamp from his coffee table where pages of news articles and art works about Krystal had been scattered, he tore off the shade so that only the bared bulb was at and unplugged it before heading into the kitchen, Marcus heard footsteps and looked around to see I Panther was there.

He looked around the room four times before checking under the table where he also found nothing, the closet door was open but it was bare with the exception of a small waist basket and three clothes hangers, he turned to leave before Panther quietly and slowly revealed himself hiding behind the ajar closet door and snuck up behind Marcus before bashing the lamp against the back of Marcus' head knocking him unconscious, while shattering the bulb.


	4. Grave Robbery

_A/N: I do not own Starfox or any of it's characters except alternate Marcus (Part III), Lizard (Part IV), Zero (Part IV), Officer Matthews (Part V) this chapter is kind of weird at first but I promise it will tie into the storyline!_

Two of Panther's comrades who were former co-workers of StarWolf were driving in a dark blue mini van with flames painted on both sides, the paint was partially chipped off, inside at the driver's seat was a white tiger named Johnny and in the passenger seat sat a coyote named Alex.

They were mostly silent until they reached the graveyard, Alex got out of the passenger seat while Johnny went into the back of the van to slide the side door open and tossed a shovel to Alex while holding onto the other one for himself while getting out.

They walked along the headstones until they found a blank one and Alex pointed "Here!" while they dug through the soil deeper, and deeper until they hit the hard coffin, they both tossed their shovels and lifted the coffin and carried it into the back of the van and covered the hole with dirt before tossing the shovels in the back with the coffin.

While they drove they saw a cop behind them with the siren blaring, "Shit." Sighed Johnny before speeding up to a dangerous velocity where the back doors of the van flung open and the coffin slid out and landed hard on the pavement causing the cop to make a sharp turn to avoid hitting it, slamming the car into a tree frying the engine.

The body of the Marcus McCloud deceased a few years earlier slammed into the electrical generator at the center of town, sending thousands of electrical volts coursing through the recently disturbed body.

Before falling to the ground the volts still visible before his fingers twitched he slowly stood up as the wounds in his flesh healed, he brushed the dead insects and dirt off of his shoulder before looking around and muttered to himself "Wow, that was one hell of a nightmare!"

He walked after the skid marks in the road to find the bastards who dug him up and saw the van had crashed into a power line supporter and saw Alex was dead and Johnny was barely conscious with his head pressed against the cracked glass with blood dripping from his forehead.

From the way he looked he was barely conscious, Marcus punched through the window and grabbed the collar of Johnny's shirt "Why the hell did you dig me up?"

Johnny coughed out some blood before replying "We were only following orders man,"

Marcus ripped the door from the van tossing it onto the road and slammed Johnny against the side of the van while holding him above his head "Who's orders?"

Johnny coughed a bit more with glass stuck in his chin a nice thick stream of blood ran down his shirt which looked a lot like red spit, he stuttered "P-Panther Caruso…"


	5. Star Falco

Falco was in his Sky Claw when on the ships monitor appeared General Peppy "Star Falco, we need you to check out Sauria…there have been a few strange occurrences and we need to know that Fox and Krystal are alright."

Falco sighed at thought of having to waste full and time when Fox and Krystal were probably alright, but then chuckled to himself at the thought of making easy money.

Katt and Dash were still in a hotel on Corneria and then thought of waking them, but decided against it, he could probably pull the whole thing off himself.

Marcus wandered around the street some more to get used to walking around after years of death he finally felt like a new man until he realized something and muttered to himself "God, they could bury me…but they didn't have the courtesy to bury me in clean pants!?"

He walked over into a clothes shop and when the shopkeeper saw him, a blue raccoon with a mid-eastern accent, emerald green eyes, and a bushy dark blue striped tail asked "Working in the mines?"

"Not exactly, a need a new pair of jeans, the ones I'm wearing, they are kind of…worn." said Marcus.

"I see that," replied the shopkeeper peering over the counter to see the dirt and small insects still crawling around the pant legs as well as in and out of his jean pockets.

He picked out some long dark blue jeans not really caring as long as he had some clean pants to wear, "Don't you need a belt?" asked the shopkeeper.

"No," replied Marcus "The weird thing is no matter how much older or taller I get I never really need a belt…"

After paying Marcus walked back out into the street to see turrets firing at the night sky and the bullets ricocheting off of the many sections of a ship which had, eventually crashed landed into a cornfield, and slid into a power line crushing the hood of the ship.

The windshield was shattered, and a cascade of sparks were raining down on the ship, Falco was obviously still his jolly old self "Damn! I got careless!" Marcus walked around to the side and pushed the large wooden pole onto the street.

He stabbed Scales' blade into the ground soil and climbed onto the top of the Sky Claw and looked in the ship to see a beer bottle and helped Falco out "Well, Han Solo, how long have you been flying with Captain Morgan?"

Falco brushed some glass off and said "What's the Officer, Problem?" Marcus sighed "Okay, you're clearly drunk…"

He lifted Falco over his shoulder and walked back to the clothes shop and asked the shopkeeper to call an ambulance for Falco.

Meanwhile Marcus Went back outside and he could sense his doppelganger was in deep trouble his mind was like a mental map with radar showing where everyone and everything was, he grabbed Scales' blade and ran to his father's house.


End file.
